Unrest amongst Bankers

The banking industry's main lobbying group is facing growing unrest from some of its largest members over its administrative costs and strategy as it attempts to chart a new course under its recently-appointed chief executive.

Senior bankers say they are alarmed by proposals from the British Bankers' Association (BBA) for the biggest high street banks such as Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland to stomach a sharp increase in the membership fees they pay.

More on this story over at Sky News.

More Capital Needed for UK Banks

Major UK banks may need to raise more capital as protection against possible future losses, the Bank of England's Financial Policy Committee has said.

Bank governor Sir Mervyn King said there were "good reasons" to think current capital ratios did not give an accurate picture of financial health.

His comments came as he presented the Bank's Financial Stability Report.

The report suggested that the 'Big Four' UK banks need £5bn-£35bn of new capital.

The full story, reported on BBC news, also goes on to mention that adequate capital levels are also needed in the face of rising costs related to banking scandals.


This year, HSBC and Barclays were respectively hit by penalties over money-laundering and the alleged rigging of the Libor rate.

Meanwhile the banks have set aside billions of pounds to cover claims for payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling.

"In recent years, UK banks have also underestimated and underprovisioned for costs for conduct redress, notably for payment protection insurance (PPI) mis-selling," the stability report said.

Don't Water Down Vickers

Shadow chancellor Ed Balls has warned the Government it risks losing Labour support for banking reforms if it waters down Sir John Vickers’ recommendations.

Speaking to the FT, Balls said he did not believe the chancellor was implementing the full recommendations of Vickers’ Independent Banking Commission report.

For fuller details of this story, which has arisen out of the various banking scandals such as mis-sold PPI read  here.

More Staff for FOS to deal with PPI Claims

The Financial Ombudsman Service has increased its staff numbers by 25 per cent over the last year under the weight of payment protection insurance mis selling with plans to keep hiring if complaints continue at current levels.

In the last year it has recruited 500 more staff to deal exclusively with PPI claims, bringing its total workforce to 2,500.

The full article can been seen over at Money Marketing

PPI reserves estimated to hit £16 billion

TOTAL PPI compensation payouts are likely to hit £16bn, according to new estimates out today, providing a £10bn boost to consumer spending but crippling shareholders and allegedly hitting banks’ ability to lend to firms and individuals.

The PPI payouts are reaching such a scale that they are being described as a bank windfall tax in all but name.....

For the full story read here.

Why We Never Cold Call

It is difficult to escape the words “mis-sold Payment Protection Insurance (PPI)” on a day to day basis as Britain’s TV and Radio channels become increasingly oversubscribed with adverts and news coverage of the banking scandal. Of course, it’s not just our media channels feeding us with reminders that we can reclaim mis-sold PPI, you’re more than likely to find a text message waiting for you on your phone alerting you to the thousands of pounds  your bank are so eager to compensate you with.

As ‘cold ‘calling and unsolicited text messaging appear increasingly common, the phrase mis-sold PPI now evokes frustration for customers who have been targeted by unwanted marketing calls and texts from companies they have never requested to be contacted by.

Following the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) report which last week raised concerns over WFAC’s telemarketing, we want to reassure consumers that we do not ‘cold’ call or text customers, and will only ever contact customers who have indicated that they may have had PPI and are happy to receive marketing calls.

It is important that as a business we advertise our services to customers, and this does involve calling customers who have indicated an interest in our company, either directly through our website or via a third party. We believe that the majority of complaints which have prompted the ICO’s concern are from those people who may have forgotten they had previously opted in to receiving contact from our company. We will always remove any customers from our database who inform us that they no longer wish to be contacted by us.

It is unfortunate that not all organisations wish to comply with mandatory rules and regulations set in place to protect consumers, so it is no surprise that consumers are becoming increasingly aggravated by the sheer volume of unsolicited marketing calls and text messages they are receiving. While WFAC can confidently testify that we do not ‘cold’ call or send unsolicited text messages, there are many Claims Management Companies (CMCs) who bring disrepute to the legitimate claims management industry by employing unlawful marketing practices.

At WFAC we believe we provide an excellent level of customer service, and have successfully claimed millions of pounds of compensation for our customers. We sincerely hope that any customers who believe they were mis-sold PPI and are yet to make a claim will not be deterred by those CMCs who continue to cause customer upset through unsolicited marketing calls and text messages.

Banks Face Criticism from FOS over PPI Scandal

There was a brief sense of early festive cheer for Britain’s hard pressed consumers recently, as more of the major High Street Banks announced further provisions are to be set aside to compensate customers who were mis-sold PPI.

Last week, the provisions in the UK topped £12 billion, with significant increases announced by Lloyds, RBS, HSBC and Barclays. With banks making appropriate provisions for refunding customers, why is it that the banks have come under further criticism from the Financial Ombudsman Service (FOS)?

The FOS, who recently received their 500,000th complaint regarding PPI have criticised UK banks for their part in the handling of PPI complaints. With the provisions reserved for compensating customers continuing to climb, alongside a record number of complaints to the FOS it is clear that many customers are still seeking compensation from their lender. The FOS have found that despite banks recognising a demand for compensation, many legitimate cases are being dismissed, as highlighted by Natalie Ceeney, Chief Executive of the FOS, ‘In a quarter of cases where banks said customers didn't have PPI, they did’.

In contrast Lloyds bank have argued that half of complaints they receive are ‘duplicates or dubious’, which the bank claim are accountable for slowing the process in which customers are receiving compensation. The FOS have quickly rejected this statement pointing out that only 3.5% of their complaints are erroneous.

While the FOS have highlighted the apparent failings of the banks in compensating customers, and many customers still await a refund from their lender, there are also success stories showing  that making a complaint against your lender may in fact be worthwhile. So far it is estimated that only one in ten people who were potentially mis-sold PPI have claimed back compensation, with seven in ten cases referred to the FOS being ruled in the consumers favour. It has also been reported that UK consumers are receiving £347 a second from lenders who mis-sold PPI to their customers with around £30 million a day being paid out to customers.

So while the banks at the centre of the scandal are accused of dragging their heels, it is important that consumers across the UK maintain their efforts in reclaiming PPI, despite the potential obstacles they may face in claiming compensation. There is after all, billions of pounds set aside by banks, waiting to be refunded to customers, and many have already been successful. Just last week it was revealed that a British woman won £140,000 compensation from her lender who was mis-sold her PPI 20 years ago. We therefore remind consumers to continue their efforts in claiming back PPI, and hope that the banks who have prepared financially to refund consumers will take the next appropriate steps in ensuring their customers are compensated and that this scandal will never be repeated.